


Infinity Aftermath

by MatrixOfWumbo



Series: MCU: After Infinity [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Infinity Gauntlet, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Stan Lee Cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24591901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatrixOfWumbo/pseuds/MatrixOfWumbo
Summary: Thanos stands victorious over a sundered universe. But if they can't save their friends, you can be certain that Steve Rogers and his team will avenger them. A reload of my older story "The Infinity Epilogues" with some Endgame elements adapted into the first two chapters.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Gamora/Peter Quill, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Scott Lang/Hope Van Dyne, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Series: MCU: After Infinity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1254581
Comments: 7
Kudos: 10





	1. Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> "Avengers: The Infinity Epilogue" is the basis on which all of my Marvel stories are written. Which will become more apparent in the next batch of fics coming out than it has been so far. But it was very much a first draft. I wrote it before Endgame came out, based on what I wanted to happen. What follows is very much the same - in fact Chapter 3 will be nearly identical. But it integrates some of the stuff I didn't know about in March 2019 to tell maybe a fuller story. Anyway, thanks for reading!

_23 days have passed since Thanos saved the universe._

_The Mad Titan has since retired to a verdant garden planet. But not unnoticed. Following an energy signature identical to the one one that marked the death knell of half of the universe, the Avengers have come for him. Natasha Romanoff, a spy known as the Black Widow. Bruce Banner, a genius physicist with a huge, rage-fueled alter ego - the Hulk. Thor Odinson, a warrior from the faraway world of Asgard, and the God of Thunder. James Rhodes, an Air Force Colonel inside a suit of armor with devastating firepower called the War Machine. Rocket, a strange creature who looked like a raccoon but talks a big talk and carries an even larger gun. Carol Danvers, a human charged with the incredible energies of an Infinity Stone. Nebula, Thanos' long-suffering cyborg daughter. And Steve Rogers. Captain America._

_Steve woke up seven years ago to find that he had been frozen for seven decades. The world had changed a great deal since World War II, but in some ways it hadn't. It still needed heroes. And this was all that was left. The remnants of the Guardians of the Galaxy, what Steve understood to be some sort of space-faring group of mercenaries. And the surviving members of his own family - the Avengers. All except for one. Tony Stark held a grudge against Captain America that even the end of the world wouldn't heal. He was also in no shape to fight after returning from his first bout against Thanos. So he had remained behind. And no one had heard from Clint Barton, the adept archer Hawkeye, since the incident occurred. The eight of them would have to do._

_Everything goes according to plan. Carol and Thor subdue the Mad Titan, while Rhodey and Rocket retrieve the Infinity Stones that gave Thanos his power over life and death. Only they aren't there. Rogers and Romanoff interrogate Thanos, who tells them they are gone._

"The Stones served no further purpose. They could only tempt me. So I cast them into the past, beyond anyone's reach. The effort destroyed the Time Stone, and very nearly killed me. But it was worth it."

A silence fell over the Avengers.

"The work is done," Thanos said. "And it will always be done."

Thor, having heard enough, strode forward and buried Stormbreaker into Thanos' neck. But the head never hit the ground.

Thanos chuckled as he watched Thor look at his axe in bewilderment. The God of Thunder swung again and again, but each time the axe passed through the murderous Titan's body it stitched itself back together. His forearm, severed by Thor's axe and laying on the floor, also vanished and reappeared in its proper place.

"Did you think I would be content to die before I could see the fruit of my labor?" Thanos said, attempting to stand but still caught in Carol's hold.

"I must bear witness - to the paradise I have created. Even if it took a thousand years, the universe would return its gratitude. And so before I banished the Stones from reality, I used them to protect me. As long as I remain here, no harm can come to me."

"I see," Thor said, suddenly quite calm. He stepped into the doorway.

"You're delusional," Rhodey said, full of anger. "You think all this death is going to amount to something positive?"

"He does," Nebula said softly.

"And it will," Thanos beamed with pride. "That you should suffer so for your lack of vision is unfortunate, and you have my sympathy-"

"Screw this," Rocket shook. "I can't take it anymore."

"Friends," Thor's voice boomed from the doorway.

"I suppose we should leave Thanos to his solitude. He no doubt would like to get back to his vegetables."

"I would," Thanos smiled. "It's a simple pastime, but a fulfilling one. I'm glad you understand."

"I do," Thor said simply. Then a storm brewed in his eyes. He held Stormbreaker aloft.

With a clap of thunder and the deafening crash of the sound barrier breaking, a stream of colored lights pierced the pastoral clouds over the Garden and slammed into the fields a few hundred yards from Thanos' hut. The Bifrost sent mounds of deep black soil hurtling up from the ground as it burrowed deeper into the planet.

"What are you doing?" Thanos bucked against Carol's grip but the ex-Kree warrior tightened her hold on his neck.

"My brother nearly destroyed an entire planet with the rainbow bridge once," Thor said, his tone not changing.

Tremors shook the surface of the Garden, the wooden hut quivering on its foundations.

"Thor," Steve said cautiously. After all, _they_ were still on the planet.

"He's always good for such clever ideas. Or he was. You choked the life out of him while I watched, helpless."

The Bifrost veered to the west, the planet sputtering and groaning like an injured animal beneath it.

"Thor, you're going to cut the planet in half!" Rhodey shouted.

"I rather think he'd like it better that way," Thor growled.

"Why stop at half, anyway?" Carol muttered. "He actually seems to value this planet. More than he valued any of us."

"Not all of us can breathe in space," Natasha snapped back.

"Hey, all my friends are dead," Rocket shrugged. "Anything to spite this asshole."

Captain America finally walked up to Thor himself, and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Stand down, Thor." He said with authority. "He isn't worth it."

Thor balled his fists and bowed his head. The bridge dissipated.

"Aye… Captain."

"You are all welcome back here, when you are ready to thank me," Thanos said as Carol released him. She returned his offer with a punch to the head that sent him to the floor.

* * *

The Avengers all boarded the Guardians' vessel again, with the exception of Carol. The super-warrior had taken off on her own as the _Benatar_ ascended back into orbit.

Steve looked down at the fresh gash in the surface of the planet that Thor had carved with his hammer.

"Am I allowed to say," Rhodey said to no one in particular, "that it didn't feel all that bad watching his stuff get wrecked?"

Steve said nothing. Neither did Thor.

 _"If that got you all fuzzy, wait until I finish,"_ Carol responded over comms.

* * *

Thanos regained consciousness as the dust was settling over his farm.

 _Arrogant fools_ , he thought. Then he looked up at the sky.

His massive flagship, the _Sanctuary II_ , was falling through the atmosphere in a ball of fire. He quickly ducked into the hut and crouched down. He felt the heat of the inferno before he saw it. The impact crater decimated Thanos' wheat crops, and the unburned fuel inside the ship seeped into the soil, blighting the land for miles around, that nothing would ever grow.

* * *

_Five months pass, and little changes for the Avengers. The world is broken, and full of despair. Steve Rogers tries to help where he can, but there is little Captain America can do. He wishes that his friend Sam were still here, helping people with trauma is what he did for a living. Bruce Banner locks himself in a Gamma Lab, eventually reconciling with the Hulk in body and mind to form a new being, not quite Banner or Hulk. Thor regroups with the remnants of Asgard and falls into a malaise. Hawkeye resurfaces in Japan, going on a bloody tear of vengeance against the people he felt should have died in place of his own family. Carol and the Guardians return to space to quell the growing chaos beyond Earth._

_An unlikely hero comes in the form of Scott Lang. Ant-Man has been trapped in the Quantum Realm after the rest of his team was snapped out of existence. By chance a rat runs over one of the instruments in his impounded van and opens his way home. After checking on his family, Scott drives across the country to the Avengers Compound._ _While five months have passed outside the Quantum Realm, Scott only experienced five hours. Time dilation - time travel - was possible. But it would not be possible without Tony Stark._

_Natasha, Steve, and Hulk travel to the cabin upstate that Tony has retreated to, and attempt to win him over. He is unwilling at first, but eventually the chance at redemption changes his mind. So the Avengers hatch a daring plan. The nine of them - six original Avengers, Nebula, Rocket, and War Machine - will travel back in time, collect the five remaining Infinity Stones, and return to the present to restore the lives Thanos wiped out. The Time Stone, would require something more creative. But the Ancient One, who guards the Stone in the past, is used to creative solutions. Provided they bring it back, she allows the Avengers to take her own Time Stone back with them._

* * *

_While the Avengers carry out this "Time Heist," Carol Danvers travels to Nidavelir, the once-great home of the Dwarves. She has been tasked with a special project…_

"Etri?" She called out into the vast empty warehouses.

"I'm looking for Etri the Dwarf? Thor Odinson sent me."

"Aye, I'm in here," a haggard voice boomed from further within.

Carol flew around a corner and met a Dwarf for the first time.

"Woah," she breathed. The being before her had to have been two stories tall, which certainly wasn't what she had read in books growing up.

"What do ye want?" Etri lilted half drunkenly. Carol found herself wondering whether all of Thor's mythic friends weren't at least half in the bag.

"You made the Gauntlet Thanos used to harness the power of the Stones. Right?"

"Correct. He should have killed me then, spared me the shame of it. Is that what you're here for? To make me pay?"

"No, no! In fact, I very much need you alive. Because if you made one glove, you could make another. Right?"

"Why in all the Nine would I make that fell weapon again?"

"Because the Stones can work both ways. My friends are out gathering them. Once they have, we'll use them to undo this nightmare and save the universe. Save _everyone._ "

"Eh? Are you sure it can be done?" Etri was taken aback.

"If anyone can do it, they can."

"That's… that would be… a miracle," Etri's great voice softened for the first time since she had arrived.

"But the God of Not-Listening-Very-Well left out an important part. My forge is out of commission. The aperture out on the rings is stuck closed. Thor nearly died holding it open long enough to heat my last project for him. And he's not here to bear the power of the Star again."

"So, all you need to make the glove is heat to melt the ore?"

"No ordinary campfire would do, lass," Etri grumbled. "Our forge was lit by a neutron star. The only thing hot enough to melt the strongest metals in the universe."

"Well, it just so happens that my body is one big-ass battery," she snapped her finger and a burst of blue and orange energy radiated from where her fingers touched.

"I can just take a dip in your star and we can light your forge the old fashioned way."

Etri looked at her with a mix of awe and terror.

"Who did you say you were, again?"

"Sorry, I didn't. I'm Carol. Nice to meet you."

* * *

Around a half hour later, Carol reentered the station. Her hair crackled and her eyes glowed white with the energies of the star.

"Are you alright?" Etri asked.

"I'm good. We should probably get this thing started though, I'm not sure how healthy it would be to keep this stuff in my system for very long."

They walked together through the darkened shafts of Nidavelir towards the great furnace.

"I don't get it," Carol said after a long gap of silence. "Thanos has been going from planet to planet for 20 years, committing genocide on half the populace of each one. It's all part of his sick game of "balance." So why did he kill all of the Dwarves here?

"Bah. Thanos' rules only hold true as long as his cruelty allows it. His words bring tidings of mercy even as his actions bring the most portentous woe. The Mad Titan's madness is that he himself has come to believe those tidings. It is not a unique quality in beings of power such as he. I have beheld it before."

They finally came to the forge chamber. An intricate pattern singed into the floor marked Thor's hasty exit from the station months prior.

"This ore's name was lost to time," Etri explained as he readied the mold. "Not since the age of Thor's grandfather has it been used this often."

"Why left handed?" Carol pondered at the shape of the mold. Etri was now wheeling out a crate, empty save for a few remaining ingots of a coppery substance.

"It's one of a pair. Allfather Bor had the right gauntlet commissioned for his treasure chamber long ago, as a symbol of his dominion over the Realms. He even put imitation Stones in the settings, I'm told. He destroyed the mold so that none like his Gauntlet might be forged again."

"Gee," Carol frowned.

"As I said. I have beheld ones such as Thanos before. I have thanks that Thor seems to have broken that particular family legacy."

* * *

Across space and time, another Thanos was demonstrating Etri's point. Before him, stretched into a nearly indistinguishable string of mechanical parts, was his daughter Nebula. Not _his_ daughter Nebula, however. This one had come from somewhere else. Another time, he was learning. A time where he had succeeded in his ultimate goal of collecting the Stones. A time where he had solidified his victory by casting the Stones into the void of time. A time where, judging by Nebula's appearance here, the few remaining heroes launched a desperate mission to recover their only hope of stopping him.

The Mad Titan's lips curled into a smile.

A time where, once they had completed their mission, _all six Stones would be in one place._

The timeline's true Nebula was at her father's side, as was her sister Gamora and brother Ebony Maw. Thanos inspired as much fear in his "children" as he did the rest of the universe. That fear manifested in many ways. For Maw, reverence. For Nebula and Gamora, resentment.

Gamora was mere hours from enacting a long-concealed plan to betray her father and spirit one of the Infinity Stones from his reach. The path would bring her into contact with her first friends in the universe, and lead her on a feverish search to find and bury the location of the Soul Stone. But that transgression against her father would be her last, as the Mad Titan would cast her into a pit to date his desire for universal purging.

Nebula would, in the next few days, witness the power of an Infinity Stone firsthand, the first time in her life she beheld something capable of killing her father. The sight would fill her with a grim, passionate resolve that would fuel her for the next four years. If her father was not immortal, then he could die at her hands.

But this new wrinkle in the folds of time had altered the course of events. Now both sisters stood, looking at conclusive proof that Thanos would succeed. Nebula had always been the least favored in her father's eyes. If she was destined to live in this Hell forever, then she needed to take advantage of this new Nebula's arrival…

* * *

Moments had passed since the Avengers left on their most important mission yet, but several fateful hours had transpired for the heroes when they warped back into the Compound.

It was a time of mourning. On Vormir, faced with the price of "A Soul for a Soul," Natasha had won her battle of selflessness with Clint, and fell to her sacrifice far below.

Bruce was distraught. For a long time had he harbored feelings for the Black Widow, feelings that the Battle of Sokovia and his subsequent internment on Sakaar left unspoken. But her death resonated throughout the team. Clint had been the one to see the good in Natasha all those years ago, and the two had relied on each other throughout SHIELD and the Avengers. Tony was silent. He was done losing people to this disaster, and he didn't have any grief left. Natasha and Steve became close friends while on the run from SHIELD during HYDRA's insurrection, and remained together after Tony and General Ross branded them fugitives from the law. But moreover, Natasha had been a guiding figure in the Avengers in the months since the Decimation. Even Steve found himself without a path, but she threw herself into her work, guiding efforts to help the survivors on Earth and beyond. That she wouldn't be able to see the end of their journey hit the Captain harder than he wanted to present to the team.

Their solemn atmosphere came to an end when Carol returned bearing the new Gauntlet.

"Once the job is done, I will see to it that Etri's forge is repaired permanently. It will burn for millenia," Thor turned over the glove in his hands.

"You have my thanks, Carol."

Tony, Bruce, and Rocket took the Gauntlet into the lab to begin implanting the Stones. Clint paced the upper walkways. Rhodey and Thor stepped outside. Nebula had disappeared. Steve supposed that she was feeling a lot of things, being this close to the end.

At length he and Carol were left alone in the kitchen of the compound.

"Sorry about Romanoff, Captain Rogers," Carol said softly.

"It's Steve, please. And thank you. For the words, and for getting us that Gauntlet. Did you run into any trouble?"

"Not from Thanos' end. I think we managed to pull this off without drawing his attention."

"That's good. So, after all this, are you headed back to space?"

Carol shuffled in place a moment.

"I was planning on it, but… well it's been a long time since I've come back down to Earth."

"You've got people you left behind," Steve surmised.

"I do. But this universe is bigger than me. It's bigger than any of us. So, it's kind of selfish of me to want to stay here when there are so many planets without Avengers. Right?"

"I have a friend," Steve started. "Had a friend. Soon he'll be back. He said there's always some stuff you leave there, and other stuff you bring back. Now, I think we both know you _can_ carry anything you want, but I don't think that means you have to."

"I had a friend who wanted to stop wars, so that people like you and I don't have to keep doing this to ourselves. Her name was Mar-Vell. Fury thought that I should take her name, use it like a symbol. I've never thought I was worthy of it. She lost so much, I couldn't take one more thing.

"It sounds like it wasn't a name he was talking about. More like a legacy. And isn't that what you're already fighting for? Her legacy?"

He showed her his shield. "Now, I've got special serum running through my veins that lets me run as fast as a car. But this shield is my symbol. It's going to be my legacy. Anybody can take up this shield and be Captain America. But not everyone knew this Mar-Vell woman like you did. So if it were me, I'd think real hard about taking the name."

"Rhodey said you were good at the talking part of the job," Carol raised her eyebrow. "Boy was he not kidding."

"Do they not teach you how to give rousing speeches in the Air Force?"

"Oh is that how it is?"

"Guys," Clint appeared in the doorway. "We're all set."


	2. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers' goal is in sight, but their struggle has only just begun. What's the only thing worse than one Thanos?

The Avengers were evidently having an argument about who should wear the Gauntlet as the other three entered.

"I beg of you, Banner," Thor said, a far cry from the stoicism he usually showed. "Let me do this. Let me do _something_ good."

"It's not about good or no good," Tony said. "This thing's channeling enough energy to light up a continent. It nearly killed Thanos."

"How do we know it won't kill Bruce?" Natasha frowned.

"It's alright, Nat," the green giant said. "The radiation's mostly gamma. I was basically made for this."

"Made for this," he whispered to himself. "Yeah. Let's do it."

"Did he say radiation?" Carol whispered to Steve.

"I try not to ask anymore," Steve replied.

Bruce took a deep breath and stuck his great green arm into the Gauntlet. The effect was immediate. The Stones came to life with a high-pitched whine, and hairline seams began to open in the glove's golden exterior. Multicolored streaks spiderwebbed up Bruce's arm, singing flesh as the scars grew. The scars weren't the only things growing; as Bruce struggled with the influx of power he began losing control of his intermediate form, his body swelling and blooming with green. His howls of pain became deeper as the Hulk began to assert himself more and more.

"Get it off of him!" Steve called out.

"No! We can do it!" The Hulk roared as he agonizingly forced his fingers together… and snapped.

The sizzling coils of color had nearly reached his shoulder by now. With Tony and Thor's help they were able to yank the Gauntlet from his hand, and the Hulk fell to the ground.

Everyone waited in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"Did it work?" Clint asked, frantically checking his phone.

Bruce groaned. He had shrunken back down to his normal form for the first time in months.

"Where's…" He coughed. "Where's Nebula?"

And then the room exploded.

* * *

Thanos the Conqueror surveyed the Valley of the Garden. What had happened here? For miles in every direction there was charred vegetation. Except for one place; the fields surrounding the farm house in the center were still laden with fruits and vegetables. The simple home had a large hole in the roof, but a thin trail of smoke still emerged from its chimney.

He pushed open the door to discover his future self crouched over a pot on the fire. This other Thanos briefly regarded him with surprise, but then only sighed. "The stew will be finished soon."

"You don't seem shocked to see me," the armored Thanos said.

"Is it really so difficult to parse?" Thanos adjusted his wounded shoulder. "The Avengers see my work as a transgression against nature. With the Stones scattered to the winds of time, what choice did they have but to make a transgression of their own? Now here we stand, two beings who were never fated to meet."

"I presume the earthlings are also responsible for the devastation outside?"

His future counterpart nodded. "A tantrum, upon finding that I destroyed the Stones. Mainly on the part of the Thunder God, and that human woman Ronan always ranted about."

"The disciple of Mar-Vell," Past Thanos raised a brow. "Intriguing. I would have presumed she was much too busy in other parts of the universe to meddle with events on her Homeworld."

"The work was done on an eternal scale. It didn't take long for them to discover the source. To discover my Garden, as you have. I wonder though, what purpose brings you here?"

The younger warlord removed his helmet.

"I apprehended your wayward daughter in my time," he explained. "My Nebula experienced interference from another being on her personal network. She was easy to track from there. A simple swap later, and she had infiltrated the Avengers' compound and used their technology against them to bring my army there."

"Fascinating," Thanos removed the pot from the fire after a final stir.

"Even now, she and Gamora are leading an assault on the Avengers' sanctuary. They will recover the Gauntlet, and the Stones, and I can return to my time to at last complete my destiny."

"It sounds like everything has worked out, then. Have some stew, for our soon to be shared victory."

The burned Thanos pushed a bowl of stew towards his younger self. They looked at it politely, but did not touch it.

"I couldn't help but notice how quickly this part of the Garden bounced back from the Avengers' assault."

Thanos smiled.

"Nature provides. A small comfort, in spite of it all."

"Yes. Small, indeed."

The conqueror plunged his fist through the floorboard and pulled up a fistful of dirt. As the soil fell through his fingers, an amber glow filled the room.

"You know, when I interrogated Nebula, I heard what you said. About temptation. It's a powerful thing, isn't it?"

"You don't know what I had to do to achieve salvation, Thanos said. "No sacrifice was too great, of course. But I couldn't let her go. My Gamora."

The two large men stared each other down for a moment.

"I thought I was better than this."

"Why are you surprised?" The older Titan shook his head. "You've been lying to yourself for years."

With a cry of anger, His past self plowed through the table and upturned his supper. Thanos did little to defend himself as he was run through with his giant double-edged sword.

"I know about the power you've placed over this planet," Thanos the Warlord growled. "I know I cannot kill you here. But I have not yet lost the respect - the _loyalty_ \- of my children. So when _my_ Gamora brings me my Stones, I will not return to my time right away. I will come here, I will kill you with the same power you now cower behind and bury you in the dishonor you bring upon our name."

"Well," Thanos coughed, gripping the hilt of the sword buried in his chest. "That was quite the speech."

He grabbed the sword out of his younger self's hands and beat him to the ground with it.

"It's an interesting idea, sending your time displaced daughter to replace the real one. I'm glad I thought of it."

He impaled Thanos with the other end of the blade, then repeated the action three more times.

"But you don't belong here. You upset the balance. I thought you would know by now how important that is to us."

The Only Thanos Remaining reached down to retrieve his dinner guest's helmet.

"Avengers," he growled, dousing his cooking fire. And putting the Soul Stone fragment into his glove.

"I have indulged your ignorance for too long."

He walked out to the scarecrow in the yard, where he hung up his armor for good six months earlier. Or so he had thought.

"This was a step too far."

* * *

_As Thanos'_ Sanctuary _emerges from the year 2014 into the modern world, it rains fire onto the Avengers compound. Several of the Avengers' number are trapped underground as the base begins to collapse on top of them. Pinned beneath a beam, James Rhodes calls desperately for his replacement War Machine armor. And the unconscious form of Bruce Banner begins to twitch and contort._

_And on the surface, Earth's three mightiest heroes are about to make one final stand…_

"Hey Steve, wake up. Today, please. It's all hands on deck out here."

The sky was stained black and orange by towering columns of smoke and fire. Tony was pulling Steve out of a pile of debris at the rim of a crater. He had his Vibranium shield in one hand, blown from Cap's grasp by the Force of the blast. Thor was with him, suited up in his Asgardian armor. In the sky behind him was a vastly wide ship.

"Thanos," was all Steve could say.

"Yeah, about that," Tony twisted his face apologetically. "Quantum Tunnel spiked a few seconds before the base went boom. I'm guessing this is someone else's Thanos."

"Only he's our problem now," Thor glared up at the giant vessel.

"That ship looks just like one I blew up over New York back in 2012."

"Another invasion, then." Steve reached for his shield. What do their numbers look like?"

"Nothing," Tony shook his head. No Chitauri, no Outriders, none of Grimace's other friends."

"What does that mean?" Steve asked.

"It means he wants to parlay with us alone," Thor pointed down into the crater where the dust-choked sun glinted off of a huge figure in golden armor.

"Look at his arm, Tony," Steve murmured. "That's him. The _real_ him."

"Looks like Junior tried to pull a Biff but wound up Marty McFlying himself."

"Well I don't know about you guys, but this isn't the Garden anymore."

"Excellent observation, Captain." Tony said, reactivating his helmet.

"Good. Just as long we are all in agreement," Thor grunted, summoning Stormbreaker in one hand and Mjolnir (a souvenir from 2013) in the other. "Let's kill him properly this time."

* * *

"Hang on, everyone, I can fix this!" Scott shouted, reaching for one of his Giant Man discs.

"Just relax, Rhodey," Rocket stayed close to the pinned man. "You ain't gonna die down here."

"Wh-where's Bruce?"

_"Grrr...grah!"_

The rubble shifted a few yards from them...

* * *

"I see it now," Thanos said, lifting himself to his feet. "How could you live with your failure?"

Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America had descended the crater's rim to confront the Mad Titan.

He turned towards Tony. "Iron Man. That's what you call yourself, yes? When you didn't accompany your friends to the Garden I thought that perhaps you had joined the half of humanity that paid Life's debt to the universe."

"Is that what all that was, then?" Tony raised his arms in gesture to the desolation around them.

"We were all overdrawn, and you came to collect?"

"I was _pleased_ that you had been spared any further distress," Thanos continued, ignoring him. "A man of your conviction should not face so ignominious a fate as to die steeped in his own shame. Yet here you are."

"Yeah. I'm all sorts of stubborn like that. But I'm not really feeling the witty repartee today. I'd like to skip ahead to kicking your ass."

"We're going to set this right," Thor said. "Undo the crimes you have committed, make sure you pay."

"You don't get it," Thanos' voice darkened. "This foolish crusade is over. Look around you. You stand in a world of _my_ creation. The universe judged you and found you wanting - thus did the Stones come to me. You thought your cause was just, but in the end, you were on the wrong side of history.

"No, you don't get it," Tony snapped. "You don't get to take your ball and go home while there's still players on the field."

"You are surrounded by the mightiest heroes the universe has left," the God of Thunder stretched out his arms. "They can be bigger or smaller than you could possibly imagine. They're strong, fast, smart, cunning. And above all, desperate."

"And you've managed to piss off every single one of them," Tony finished.

"I'm really quite intimidated," Thanos scoffed. "But the Avengers have fallen to me once. In time, they will become accustomed to it."

"It's true, we may fall here. But you won't win."

Steve had spoken for the first time in a while.

"As long as one person stands against you, Thanos, you'll never be able to claim victory."

"Noble sentiments," Thanos grinned, standing up to his full height, "From one who is about to die."

"Nobody's dying without me," a deep voice cut through the tense air.

Clawing his way out of the rubble pile, eyes crackling with green energy, was the Hulk. He was taller than usual, a straighter back where there were previously broad, lumbering shoulders. His whole body was a dark emerald green laced here and there by lime colored arteries. Banner and Hulk had fused once again, into something much fiercer than even the original Hulk's rage.

"These guys are right, Thanos," Hulk scowled. "But there was one other person you pissed off."

He slammed his foot on the ground and the world broke beneath him.

"Her name was Nat."

* * *

"Guys?"

Clint Barton woke up in the remains of some sort of utility tunnel underneath the compound. His bow was cracked in half. Water from a pipe somewhere in the tangle was spilling down into the narrow corridor.

"Guys, I have eyes on the Stones."

Lying in a puddle of water was the Infinity Gauntlet. He had to get it up to his friends.

He stood up, and buckled. He had a nasty cut on his ankle. Clint grabbed the Gauntlet and staggered up the corridor. He could hear over the comms that a battle was raging outside. He couldn't tell what was happening. Did Banner do something wrong? Was the world fixed?

At length, he ran into Nebula. The cybernetic woman was walking cautiously through some exposed wires.

"Hey, I know you," he said casually.

"You can barely walk," she said. "Let me grab that."

"Thanks," Clint sighed as he passed the blue woman the glove.

"No," she shook her head. "Thank you. You've saved me a great deal of trouble."

Nebula pulled her gun and aimed it at Clint.

"Woah. What's going on?"

"What's going on is that Thanos is about to win. Because Thanos always wins."

"Who are you?" Clint whispered.

"Put the gun down," a very similar voice came from further down the tunnel. Aiming her own pistol at Nebula was the real Nebula, from 2018. Gamora was behind her.

"Oh boy," realization dawned on Clint. "Time travel."

"You're betraying us?" 2014 Nebula said to her sister.

"You don't have to do this," Nebula said, her gaze piercing her younger self.

"I _am_ this," the woman said grimly, looking at the Gauntlet under her arm.

"No, you're not. You've seen what we become."

"Nebula, listen to her," Gamora pleaded. "Up there they're fighting for their lives against Thanos. They have a chance!"

"You hate him as much as I do," Nebula's voice fell. "So why aren't you up there leading the charge? What happens to you in this timeline if you defy Thanos?"

Gamora looked at the older Nebula. She couldn't meet her gaze.

"It's true," Hawkeye said. "You spend the next four years stopping your dad from getting Infinity Stones, and he kills you for it. But look me in the eyes and tell me you weren't already thinking of doing it before you came to this time."

"Don't say another word!" Nebula brandished her gun at the man.

"If you hurt him, I'll kill you," 2018 Nebula raised her weapon again. Now both Nebulas were training their weapons at one another. Gamora looked back and forth, an agonizing struggle going on in her head.

"You can change," the older Nebula said. "You _did_ change."

The younger Nebula's gun clicked. Her eyes were full of sorrow.

"He won't let me."

A shot rang out through the tunnel.

* * *

"Boss! You have to wake up!" Tony Stark's AI shouted into his helmet. He didn't respond.

_Even without any Stones (or so the Avengers could tell) Thanos is a force to be reckoned with. His armor is shattered by Hulk-powered blows, and his skin is seared by lightning and ion beams. But he just keeps coming. Battering Tony, matching blows with Stormbreaker. Carol Danvers might be of some help, but she is preoccupied drawing fire from Thanos' mothership away from the battle._

_At a pivotal moment, Captain America summons Mjolnir to his hand, proving his worth to anyone who may have still doubted it. With Thor and Iron Man flagging and the Hulk unsure of how long he could sustain his new transformation, Cap enters a brutal duel with the Mad Titan…_

"Are you satisfied, yet? Or do you still think those colors you wear mean anything outside your planet?"

Captain America's famed shield, his one remaining companion from the 20th century, was splintered in two. Steve wiped a trickle of blood from his lip.

"I can… do this… all day."

Thanos shook his head and removed his helmet.

"You know, every planet I've ever been to - every drop of blood, every second in the throes of violence - none of it was personal. But when I get the Stones, and I raze your planet to its component atoms, I'm going to enjoy it very, very much. And it looks like that will happen very soon."

Steve Roger's heart sank as he saw Nebula and Gamora crossing the battlefield. The green-skinned woman was dragging Clint's unmoving body behind her. Nebula was carrying the Gauntlet, and all the Stones, towards her master.

It was over.


	3. Avenged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victory is in Thanos' grasp, and for one hero, it's the end of the line.

"We come bearing gifts, Father," Nebula said curtly, taking a knee several yards away from him.

Bruce Banner could only watch from dirt far away. For all his strength, and all his anger, even the Hulk had limits.

"I'm sorry, Nat," Bruce was distraught. "I couldn't do it."

Steve Rogers was paralyzed on the ground. He had to do something, but his body felt like it was on fire. He couldn't see Tony or Thor.

The Mad Titan grinned in triumph.

"Thank you, both of you. I will right one final wrong for the universe today. The Avengers' have upset the balance, and so have they upset me."

"But I must confess, little ones," Thanos' smile saddened. "I am not your father."

The _Sanctuary_ behind him exploded, and he turned to see Carol Danvers flying at Mach 1 straight for him.

"That's alright," Nebula said, heedless of any danger. "I was never you daughter, either."

Nebula plunged her hand into the Gauntlet and shrieked as she exploded with light...

* * *

…And found herself in an orange-tinted dreamscape. As far as her vision reached, the ground was covered in an inch of absolutely motionless water. And before her was a sight that made her fall down into great heaving sobs.

"You did it, sister," Gamora smiled, tears forming in her eyes as well.

"How is this possible?"

"A Soul for a Soul," Gamora helped Nebula to her feet. "Thanos' arrogance lead him to believe it was _my_ soul he forfeited by casting me from that cliff, and not his own. I sat in here watching it, as every step his guilt twisted his resolve further."

Her eyes glowed amber and she looked up.

"And I watched you. I knew that there was a way for you to get the Stones back. A way someone could get here."

Nebula smiled, and for the first time in a long time it wasn't a bitter smile. "And it worked. I'm here."

Gamora waved her arm. "We're all here."

Around the two sisters appeared the shadowed forms of what Nebula knew to be trillions and trillions of people. The sensation of all their souls resonating as one was overwhelming.

"I know what we have to do."

"And you have the Infinity Stones," Gamora nodded. "All that is left is to make it so."

* * *

A hand reached down to help Bruce up. He took it, and then fell right back down again when he saw that the hand belonged to Natasha Romanoff.

"You got my message," Nat beamed. For when Bruce had put the Gauntlet on, it was she that he saw in the Soul Stone's orange void. It was Natasha that, with a sad smile and urgent eyes, called out for Bruce to return and 'find Nebula.'

"It didn't go quite the way we thought it would. But then, I guess it usually doesn't."

"I don't mind you going back to being just moderately taller than me, by the way."

"It was fun while it lasted, my brains and his brawn. But I have a feeling I'm gonna need to get angry again before this is over."

"I'm way ahead of you."

* * *

Captain America woke up with a start. He looked at the shield on his arm. That was strange. The last time he had seen it, it was in pieces.

"Steve, everything is on fire," said the shaggy haired man in front of him.

"...Bucky?"

Somehow, it was. His oldest friend, who he had watched turn to dust before his eyes, now stood over him looking very confused.

"Bucky?!" One super soldier gave the other a tight embrace.

"Hey," Sam Wilson tapped Steve on the shoulder. "I'm here too. And this doesn't look like Wakanda to me."

"Oh my god," Steve whispered, racing to embrace his other friend. "Is... everyone back?

And they were. Wanda and Vision, T'Challa, Peter, all of the Avengers Thanos had erased were now gathered at the ruined compound. But how?

* * *

Scott Lang was brushing himself off when he caught a flash of movement in his periphery.

"Hey, you," a voice said.

"Hope?"

The Wasp grew to her full size and the two shared a kiss. "I guess I missed the fight again."

"I'm glad you're alive," Scott scrunched his face. "Let me tell you, the end of the universe is no fun by yourself. I had to drive the van to New York with no radio."

"You took our van?" Hope raised an eyebrow. "How much did that cost you in gas?"

"It's _my_ van, you just put your mini quantum tunnel inside of it. Tell Hank if he covers the gas, I'll cover the 10,000 mile tuneup."

* * *

Tony Stark was working out the physics of how his body could still have enough integrated brain cells left to work out the physics. And then he heard the voice.

"Mr. Stark?"

His whole body went numb. "Peter?"

"You saved us!" Peter exclaimed. Behind him Doctor Strange floated into view.

"I didn't really… oh shut up, kid. Come here," and Tony hugged the young hero.

"Nicely done, Mr. Stark," Strange said coolly.

"Option number fourteen million six hundred five still cut it awful close, Doc."

"You're right," Strange said. "Still, my hunch was well founded." He flashed a wink to the shadowy figure behind Tony and then followed with a stern glance, indicating that it had better return promptly to the past.

* * *

"GAMORA! Where is she? GAMORA?"

Peter Quill had scarcely gotten over returning to life before shouting for his lost lover. Carol Danvers approached the group and introduced herself.

Mantis' antennae perked up. "You are that famous Kree warrior from Earth!"

"More like an Earth warrior from Hala. I've heard a lot about you guys too, though. I've never met a Groot before."

"I am Groot," said Groot.

"Well I don't believe that," Carol laughed.

* * *

Thanos pulled himself off the ground, and as he did so he realized that he was surrounded by formerly dead heroes. They stood in a circle around him, all hugging and kissing and exchanging cursory introductions. And then all at once they noticed him. And they didn't look happy.

"You… you lied to me."

Nebula was standing in front of him wearing the Infinity Gauntlet. But few would recognize the blue alien woman who floated before them as Nebula. For this was not the twisted cyborg Thanos had made. This was Nebula as she could have been. As she should have been. And now, as she was. Dark blue hair coursed behind her head, now uniformly the light blue of her natural skin. Her eyes were brighter, and blazed with purpose rather than rage.

Five Stones shone on her knuckles. He looked at his hand. The fragment of the Soul Stone he wore in the original gauntlet was gone.

"You never taught me how to lie," Nebula said venomously. "That's why I'm so good at it."

"How are you able to control the Gauntlet? You couldn't possibly be strong enough."

"It was never about strength," a voice came that almost made Thanos break down in tears.

"What have you done, my Daughter?" Thanos looked up sadly at Gamora. Behind Nebula, Gamora's past self stared at her in shock. Seeing two of her sister had been one thing!

"Silence," Gamora's voice echoed across the blasted landscape. She was wearing the Soul Stone around her neck. "All this has happened because of you. Did you think you could sin against every living thing in the universe without crossing its protectors? Everyone here has one thing on their mind. Destroying you."

And thus began the final battle against Thanos, though to call it a battle was to be exceptionally charitable. Once the first blow had been struck, Thanos was powerless to stop the onslaught of heroes from all sides, juggling him through the air and landing blow after blow. They afforded him all the mercy he had ever mustered in life. He was beaten and blasted, electrocuted and mangled, pierced and gouged. Hawkeye impaled him with arrows, Iron Man burned him with heavy plasma, his daughters sent the power of the cosmos coursing through his every cell, and finally Thor prepared to cleave him in half.

But as Stormbreaker came down with a terrible crash, Thanos' body turned blue and allowed the hammer to pass straight through his head.

"That's enough," Nebula stated plainly. "We will take it from here."

The assembled heroes watched as a portal streaked with red and blue formed from the ground and swallowed Thanos whole.

"Bring him back, Nebula," Drax shouted. "I have not yet finished with him.

"Believe me, Drax, I understand. I could spend the rest of my life hurting Thanos, and thanks to this Gauntlet both my life and his could be made quite long. But it would never be enough. It has to end."

"Who are you to make that kind of decision?" War Machine pointed at her.

"She holds the Gauntlet, Colonel Rhodes," T'Challa said gravely, "How are we to stop her?"

Gamora jumped to Nebula's defense. "We will give him the fate he deserves. You need to trust us. We have already restored your lives."

"And for that we must be grateful," Vision finally spoke up, "But a great many of us require closure, and witnessing the Mad Titan's death for ourselves - morbid though it may be - will go a long way towards that."

"Hold, everyone."

A number of people were shocked to see the God of Thunder raise his arm for silence.

"Thor," Bruce said softly. "You of all people should want this monster dead. He's taken more from you than anyone."

"That isn't true, Banner," Thor shook his head. "I ran afoul of him but once. They lived with him their whole lives."

He looked at Nebula. "The fatal blow is theirs."

Nebula nodded. "Thank you, Thor."

She turned to address the group. "Now there remains one thing to do."

"Gamora pursed her lips. "We need to bring everyone back. Undo everything, if we can."

"But there's a problem," Nebula continued. "Restoring you has heavily damaged the Gauntlet."

"That doesn't sound like a problem at all," Rocket chimed in. "The frickin' thing is a weapon of mass destruction. It needs to be destroyed, and that should mean a lot coming from me."

"I think what she means," Doctor Strange put his hand on the Raccoon's shoulder. "Is that the Gauntlet was built to restrain the power of the Infinity Stones, but now those restraints are compromised. Using it to undo the Decimation will leave its wielder open to the raw energy of the Stones."

"Certain death," Drax rumbled. And for a time everyone was silent.

"You have the Mind Stone, yes?" Wanda's face was hard. "Why not force Thanos to put it back on and do it? Two birds, one stone."

"Using the Stones is a matter of intent," Gamora's eyes flashed orange. "You cannot will the universe to act in a way unless it is your own will."

Star Lord threw up his hands. "Well if the stones have a will of their own why can't they just do it themselves?"

"Because they are still only objects, Peter," Gamora replied with an exhausted tone. "They can't actively do anything."

Nebula looked at Steve and placed the Gauntlet on the ground in the middle of the group. He took a step towards it.

Tony cleared his throat. "Well, we've put this off long enough. I'll take it. I need to make it right."

Steve looked at the glove by his feet.

"Cap?"

He picked it up.

"Steve, c'mon, stop playing around. Give me the damn Gauntlet."

Steve chuckled. "You know when we first met I never thought you would risk your life for others. Now you're jumping at the chance to die for us."

"I guess you're a bad influence, now give me the glove so we can end this," his voice sounded urgent.

"Tony, it's okay."

"No. No, it's not! I can't be the one who keeps… surviving."

Steve crossed the battlefield to Tony. "You have a life, Tony. You keep getting chances to live it. Don't waste them like Thanos did."

"And what about your life?"

"My life… is in the past. And I'm happy to have had more time. These last years with all of you have been the best of my life. But, the loop needs to close. It needs to be me."

Nebula gestured for him to follow her.

He lowered his voice. "You knew it would be me."

Nebula closed her eyes. "I don't know you very well, Captain, but right now I can feel the minds of everyone here. The feelings you inspire. It's overwhelming. It's what will ensure we succeed."

T'Challa came up behind him and clasped his shoulder. "Wakanda will sing of this for the rest of its history."

"Thank you, your majesty. For a lot of things."

He saw Scott and Hope watching him pass.

"I feel like we don't deserve to be here, Cap you're… a legend," the words caught in Scott's mouth.

Steve shook his head. "No, thank you for coming Scott. I know what it cost you to go out on that airstrip. And you too, Clint."

The archer's face was twisted in grief. "Principle of the thing, Steve. I'll never back down from a fight like that. Or this."

"He turned to Hope. "And you must be Miss Van Dyne. Scott's mentioned a thing or two about you. Heard you have a talent with that tech."

"Thank you… Cap. I wish I could have gotten to know you a little more."

A bit away from Steve the Guardians of the Galaxy huddled together.

"I am Groot."

"I agree, Mantis said. "This is not our time to speak."

Doctor Strange floated ahead. He didn't say anything. His face was grave. He was looking at his hands.

Carol Danvers hovered over to Steve. He nodded at her. "Colonel."

She frowned. "Captain."

"I'll need you to keep these guys in line. Think you can do that, Airforce?"

"Hey, I resemble that remark," Rhodey interjected. He shook Captain America's hand one last time.

"I've decided," Carol told him. "About what we discussed. I'll do it. I'll take the name. And I was also thinking, 'Colonel Marvel' doesn't exactly have that ring to it, does it? I might need to do some workshopping on that."

"Captain America?" Peter called out.

Steve smiled "Hey, Queens, right?"

"You remembered!"

"I've been following you since Germany, kid. Keep doing good. All the good you can. Even when they tell you you can't, or you shouldn't. You've got a good heart."

Spider-Man quickly put his mask back on to hide the giant grin on his face.

Steve approached the crushed helipad of the compound, where Gamora waited. He put the gauntlet on, and she placed his hand in hers. Nat, Bruce, and Thor approached.

"Steve, you don't have to do this," the Black Widow was shaking like a leaf. "Any one of us would do it instead."

"And I would never live it down," Steve touched her arm with his right hand. "You've already done plenty. Apologize to Sharon when you see her. Tell her it's my fault. And Bruce?"

"Cap?" Banner couldn't quite believe what was happening.

"Remember what I told you. You deserve to be happy too."

Thor pulled Cap up and gave him a bear hug. "I swear on the Odinforce itself, we will see each other again, Steve Rogers."

"I'd like that, Thor. I can't speak for everyone on Earth but I'd be glad to give your people a home there."

Wanda and Vision walked up, hand in hand.

"You gave us both a chance when few others would," Vision smiled sadly.

"I know what it's like to be doubted," Steve said. "Look out for each other."

And lastly, Sam and Bucky came to say goodbye.

"We always seem to miss each other, Buck." Steve choked slightly.

"I… don't even want to know where I'd be right now without you, Steve," Bucky said. "You stuck your neck out for me, more than I ever deserved."

"Stick with this guy," Steve gestured to Sam. "He taught me everything I know about loyalty."

"We both know that's not true," Sam laughed. "But if the 'White Wolf's' farming days are over, I can show him a thing or two."

"Captain Rogers," Gamora started as the stone around her neck began to glow. "We should do this now, before it gets even harder."

She placed her hand back on the gauntlet and the other Stones glowed in response. Tony was hanging in the back of the assembly this whole time, but now worked his way forwards to join the other founding Avengers.

"Aren't you going to give us one more impromptu speech?"

Steve laughed. "I really don't know what I'd say."

Tony placed his hand on the Gauntlet. "How about _I_ say. Thank you."

Tears welled up in Captain America's eyes. "That's a short speech, Tony."

Tony blinked back a tear of his own. "Yeah, would it kill you to take a hint? We aren't paid by the word."

He backed away, and the Galaxy's mightiest heroes watched as Steve Rogers held the glove aloft and closed his eyes. Then a white light enveloped the ruined compound. The force shook the onlookers as they flinched from the glare. Natasha adamantly stared straight ahead, only averting her eyes when Bruce pulled her close. The light grew and spread, to every corner of the universe…

* * *

...Steve opened his eyes. Everything around him was bathed in a warm glow. And as the mists parted and the woman before him came into focus, the tears finally rolled down his face.

"Steve!" she cried.

"I know," he walked over to take Peggy Carter's hand in his own. "I'm late."

* * *

Nick Fury found himself in the middle of the street. All around him people were brushing themselves off and shouting in disbelief and joy. Strangers embraced and throngs of people were cheering. He leaned against the car and exhaled deeply. Another crisis averted.

"Fury," Maria Hill darted around the corner to find her boss.

"Agent Hill," he said. "If you plan on hugging me, I suggest you think of something else."

"What? No. Um, no I just got a priority call from Agent Romanoff. We need to get to Wakanda right now. Rogers is down."

* * *

The whole of Wakanda came out to throw a wake for Captain America, the man who saved the world. But in a secluded part of the palace, the Avengers sat in silence.

Sam walked over to Clint with another drink. "You get in touch with Laura yet?"

"Yup. Everything is safe and sound."

"Are they coming here for the ceremony?"

He shook his head. "It's a lot of travel for the kids. The Doctor is gonna teleport me home and back tonight but she doesn't really trust 'magic' and all that."

"I hope you know, we don't blame you for what you did during the Decimation. It was… grief."

"And we all deal with grief in our own way," Clint said motioning to the other side of the table where Natasha sat with Bruce, her hair hanging down over her eyes.

"Don't see Bucky or the king either," Sam changed the subject.

"T'Challa has a lot of things to oversee. And Bucky has a lot of goodbyes. He's kind of a celebrity around here."

"He's doing it for Steve," Sam put down his glass. "Otherwise I don't think he'd ever leave."

"Hard to blame him."

"The world doesn't like the Winter Soldier, but it doesn't know much about Bucky Barnes."

* * *

"Lady Nebula, a word?"

She turned to see Thor joining her on the balcony.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really used to such large groups."

"That's understandable," Thor said. "And not why I'm here. I know what you have planned for Thanos. And I respect it. But I thought it wise to tell you that - should Thanos ever blight the universe again - I will kill him."

"That won't happen," Nebula said sharply. Then her face softened. "But if it does, you'll be the first we call."

* * *

The next day Wong and Clint returned to Wakanda via portal. Everyone gathered in the fields outside of the capital, where the ceremony was set to begin. T'Challa had gone to typically lavish ends to accommodate his newfound allies. Everyone filed into their seats until Tony and Rhodey entered, both clad in tuxedos. A small ensemble of Asgardian musicians began playing. Everyone turned around to watch the arrival by boat of Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan, the redheaded CEO dressed in a long white dress with a sheer veil.

Happy walked her through the gathered guests, first a gallery of curious Wakandans and the line of Dora Milaje keeping a careful eye on the proceedings. Then they reached the small and peculiar group of guests Pepper and Tony had invited; a few relatives and co-workers of Pepper's on one side, and a wide gamut of aliens, superhumans, and vigilantes on the other. Sitting on its own chair between Bucky and Natasha was Cap's shield.

The old pastor, still wearing his tinted aviators to block the African sun, rose now and addressed the wedding guests. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to… uh, hang on I lost my place."

Tony tapped his soon-to-be wife on the arm. "It's officially too late to leave me at the altar, Miss Potts."

"Tony I know we wanted to be spontaneous with this whole engagement thing but this is a little crazy," Pepper whispered.

"Look, the king said it was okay, and really how many times are we gonna hear that in our lives? You look beautiful by the way."

"Thank you. And thank you for getting all the guests here on such short notice."

"Who has the ring?" The pastor asked, flipping through his notes.

"Oh that's me!" Peter rose from his chair and handed the ring to Tony.

"Do you, Tony Stark, promise to love and cherish this woman, to keep your vows to her til death do you part?"

"I do." That meant it was time to hang up his suit, for good this time. Start a family, the way they had been trying for years now.

"And do you, Virginia Potts, promise to take this man in sickness and in health?"

"Oh man, you mean I didn't have to before we were married?" She asked to laughter from the guests. "I do."

"Then I pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Tony Stark! You may kiss the bride!"

Everyone rose to their feet in applause as Tony and Pepper shared their first kiss as a married couple. The Wakandans in the back cheered.

 _"Excelsior!"_ The pastor shouted. "Oh, I love a happy ending!"


	4. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The World Still Needs Heroes.

_**In the wake of the most devastating attack on Earth in recorded history, the world mourns the death of Captain America. Though a fugitive from justice for two years leading up to his death, reports allege that Steve Rogers and a band of rogue Avengers were instrumental in stopping what has been confirmed to be a massive-scale extraterrestrial attack.** _

"Yes Madam President, I have seen the news, it's on every damn channel."

_"Then you understand the mess you have on your hands, Secretary Ross. Public support for the Accords started eroding as soon as you made the guy with our flag on his chest public enemy number one. Once they realize how screwed we would be without the Avengers... concessions are going to have to be made."_

Thaddeus Ross put the phone on speaker and took a walk to the window. Outside thousands of people - likely more like millions by the end of the day - were gathering, wearing their star-spangled hoodies and t-shirts for the first time in over a year, waving cardboard shields.

"This doesn't change anything. The world may need Avengers but it needs Avengers vetted by us."

" _And who exactly is that going to be, Secretary? No Stark, no Rhodes, no Android. You didn't have much to begin with, but now have nothing."_

"If you've been reading my memos you'd know that wasn't the case."

_"The Initiative? You must be joking."_

"I'm very serious. I can make some calls and have the first candidates stateside in 72 hours."

 _"Well then... I still don't think I approve of the idea, but you ca_ n make your calls. I don't want anything made official until we've talked to Congress."

Ross thanked the President and hung up. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a black file folder. The front was embossed with a familiar A, but with an arrow pointing to the left...

* * *

_**Returning from a subdued wedding in Wakanda to Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts, Tony Stark has pledged 20 million dollars towards the construction of a memorial for the fallen legend in Washington DC. Wakandan King T'Challa has agreed to match that sum. Stark and Rogers were last seen together during a very public falling out in…** _

"I didn't know we got that channel," T'Challa called down to Shuri as he entered the lab.

"What the Americans don't know won't hurt them," Shuri sipped her drink. "Besides, a toddler could hack into their satellites."

"I will await a call from Agent Ross, I suppose," T'Challa shook his head.

"The loss of Steve Rogers is a heavy blow to the world," Shuri said ignoring him.

T'Challa nodded. "He was the type of person that comes once a generation. We were lucky that he filled that role for two. For a time, anyway."

"Well, maybe this generation we could help with that," his sister gave him a knowing look.

"Rogers was a man armed with Vibranium, an outstanding moral fiber, and superhuman strength," T'Challa shrugged and then smirked. "Where do you think we could find another such person?"

"I don't know, but just don't ask me to dye any of your suits blue," Shuri snapped. "Now, out, shoo! I have more important things to do than entertain the King of Wakanda all day."

Leaning around her desk to make sure her brother was gone, Shuri returned to the file she was working on. A new Black Panther suit, but one with a distinctly more _feminine_ silhouette. Without the Heart Shaped Herb there could be no future Black Panther. Unless of course, the world's smartest person put her mind to it...

* * *

"That's the last group unloaded, Boss," Korg reported.

"Excellent," Thor slapped his rocky friend in the back and gestured out to the sea cliff. "This will be our New Asgard, where the ancients once gave thanks to us as gods. And where my father died."

"Well that's all quite depressing, sir, but there's one little discrepancy I thought you should know about. We can't find your brother."

"No," the God of Thunder shook his head sadly. "Though we were able to restore much of what Thanos took from us, Loki and Heimdall did not return to life. I trust that they are comfortable, wherever they are."

Korg tapped two large fingers together. "Oh well, that's kind of obvious, innit? Thanos sort of wrung the life out of him like an old rag, yeah? But Dead Loki isn't on board either! There's no body or nothing."

"No body?"

"Not even a little smear."

Thor paced back and forth a few steps. Then he grinned.

* * *

"Well, that should be it," Rocket said as he finished working on the Quantum Tunnel.

Hank Pym watched the creature with wide eyes.

"Scott, that's a raccoon."

"Yeah, I picked up on that the first four times you said so. What's wrong, they didn't teach that in Quantum Physics?"

"I just... you're sure I'm not still dead?"

"Thank you again, Rocket," Gamora - the one from the past - said.

"Sounds like I'm the one who should be thanking you," Rocket shrugged. "Killing your sister couldn't have been easy, or the Gamora I know would have done it a lot sooner."

"Thanos is dead, his body is rotting on the Garden World. And Nebula is gone too. I'm completely alone, now."

"I am Groot," Groot said

"Thanos will be gone in your world, along with his entire fleet," Drax nodded sagely. "They do not need to know the specifics. You will be one of the greatest heroes the galaxy has ever known."

"But Ronan the Accuser is still after the Power Stone," Rocket reminded his two friends. "Might want to look into that. By the time you get back, it will be locked up in the Kyln. And uh, so will we. So come visit us, if you feel like it."

Gamora smiled. "I just might."

"And if you meet a man named Ego, go to his planet and shoot it in the brain," Drax added.

"I'll... keep that in mind."

* * *

Stephen Strange was standing on a rooftop in Greenwich Village. In 4 years' time he would come to call this place his home. It was still a lifetime away for the Strange of this timeline, though.

He took only a few steps before the door to the roof opened, and she walked out.

"Not another word," she chided before his mouth could even open. "If you share information about my death to try to prevent it it could destroy time in both directions."

"So even now, you knew?"

"Oh, Stephen. It is our business to know things we shouldn't. But even we must have limits."

"I'm returning the Time Stone. The Avengers promised its safe return."

"And you have fulfilled that promise," the Ancient One smiled as she took the gem. "Ah, that's interesting."

"What?"

She produced a tiny green fleck from the Stone.

"This doesn't belong to me."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

"This is a part of the Time Stone, to be sure," she smiled knowingly. "But not of the Time Stone of this world. It belongs to the another - in the safekeeping of the Sorcerer Supreme of that world."

The Eye of Agamotto on his chest opened with a click, and the tiny stone floated into it.

Strange didn't say anything. He looked at his old master with a pang of sorrow.

"Looks like you are on a bit of a roll for fulfilling oaths today," she said. Then without any further circumstance she turned and shut the door.

* * *

"Where did Fury get to after the wedding?"

"He's always got something in the air," Natasha shrugged. She and Bruce were making last rounds of the Avengers' compound before they had to get out of the country. "I'm sure we'll see him next when we least expect it."

Happy managed a brief wave as he hurried past. Two moves in three years was doing nothing for his temperament. Pepper was rebuilding the compound, and having it converted into an official Avengers Museum full of paraphernalia from their adventures. Armor, weapons, dioramas, the works. With Vision going to ground and Tony retiring, Rhodey wasn't about to stick around by himself. The Air Force pilot greeted them on the edge of the battlefield.

"You guys had better get going before long. Ross is already steamed I didn't arrest you the first time. If he found out you were here…"

"He won't. We've gotten you into enough trouble already," Natasha smiled.

"I'll be fine. I'd like to see a Court Marshall convict a man who saved the universe. Now, I seem to remember there being four of you?"

* * *

"I don't like this."

Bucky and Sam were finishing packing for the Quinjet. There was one more thing left to pack.

"Hey, I would do it. But your skill set is better suited for it than mine. Plus, he would have wanted it to be you."

"I don't know. He thought pretty highly of you."

On ground before them was the shield that had so famously protected Captain America through World War II, followed him into the ice, and remained on his arm to his last moment. A faithful partner that had matched blows with the Red Skull, Thor, Black Panther, Iron Man, and even Bucky himself, yet still remained strong.

"Are you boys coming?" Natasha called from across the field.

Bucky took a deep breath, then slung the shield over his back. "Yeah, let's do this."

* * *

_Bathed in the amber glow of the Stork Club, Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter share their first dance. In this place beyond time and death, Peggy appears as she did back when Steve first met her. And he of course, has hardly changed at all. They both know they can't stay here forever, that eventually they would find their way into a more permanent place of rest together. But for now, this was perfect._

* * *

Gamora smiled as she clutched the Soul Stone to her breast. Then she turned to follow Nebula.

Her sister dumped the unconscious form of Thanos out onto the black rock. As his eyes opened, he watched Nebula hold the Gauntlet skyward, sending streaks of red and blue across the atmosphere. Gamora's eyes glowed orange as power surged from the Soul Stone around her neck. He looked around.

"Vormir," he spoke aloud, remembering the dark sky and shallow lakes all too well. "A fitting choice, little one. That my life should end here, where I ended yours."

"We disappoint you again father," Nebula said coldly, turning to face him. "I was almost beginning to grow fond of it."

"I... do not understand," the Mad Titan looked from one sister to the other. "Nebula, you've tried to kill me for four years. You both have wanted to kill me for... far longer. What stays your hands now?"

Gamora remained silent. Nebula however took one step closer to their tormentor.

"Every being in the universe knows now what a monstrous creature you are. Except for one. Except for _you_.

"It is my hope that one day you will wake up beneath the sunless skies of Vormir, and see yourself the way the rest of the universe does. Because on that day, father, you will feel a pain even the Infinity Stones could not give me the power to inflict. Maybe then as you wish for death you will realize why I haven't given it you today."

Nebula turned and headed back to the cockpit of the _Benatar_.

"Your life is bound to this world now," Gamora finally spoke. "No force in the universe could remove you from it, living or dead, without our express consent."

As she turned as well, Thanos raised his hand. "Wait-"

In an instant Nebula wheeled back around and flexed her fingers inside the Gauntlet. Thanos was encased in stone before he could take a step.

"No," she stated plainly, turning back around. "You don't get any more chances with us."

She made a flicking motion and Thanos was propelled out of the rocks and flat on his back a few yards away.

As he watched the ship carry the last Children of Thanos away from Vormir, the man once known as the Red Skull felt a pulling at his spirit. At last, he thought, his near-century of imprisonment could come to an end. He took one last look at Vormir's new keeper pulling himself up down below, and faded into so much stardust.

* * *

Gamora took one last look at the little pocket knife before she dropped it out the door of the ship.

"So what will you do now?" She asked her sister.

"The longer the Stones remain together the more dangerous they are. We must find new hiding places for them, even more devious ones than before. I don't suppose the Guardians of the Galaxy are up to the challenge?"

"I think we would all be happy to be rid of the things," her face fell. "Plus we have a vacancy."

* * *

_Dear Gamora,_

_I know I'm not usually the sort of guy who writes things down, or shares any of his feelings and junk. But I let you down. I made you a promise and I broke it, and I can never seem to get any better at it._

_For four years I've been screwing up, and the only reason I made it out was because you were there to keep me safe. I couldn't keep you safe this time, and I don't know if I can keep the galaxy safe next time. That's why I'm staying behind on Earth. The Guardians of the Galaxy are better off with me not in it. I'm sorry._

_I'll always love you..._

Peter stood on the porch of the farmhouse. Around him stretched row after row of crops growing in the Missouri soil. Soybean, he thought.

An old man opened the door. "Hey Grandpa," the former Star Lord said sadly. "I'm sorry I ran away. Can I come in?"

* * *

"Tony, you need to relax."

"Who's nervous? I'm perfectly mellow."

Rhodey grinned. "Then why are you standing in front of your chair?"

Tony sat back down, only to immediately get up again. "I don't know. Sitting seems so normal, for people like us. Doesn't it? I mean, why are you sitting?"

"I was paralyzed from the waist down, if you recall. Somebody I know hooked me up with these prosthetics to help me out, but I like my rest."

"Seems like a good friend."

"And he'll make an even better father."

"Mr. Stark?" A nurse appeared in the doorway. "We're ready for you in here."

"Can't wait to meet little Steve," Rhodey said, standing and patting Tony on the back. "Good luck."

* * *

"Who is it, Scott?"

Scott Lang blinked as he opened the door to find Carol Danvers, Stephen Strange, and King T'Challa on his front step.

"Uh, an Air Force pilot, a wizard, and a king."

"If this is one of those 'walk into a bar' jokes... Oh." Hope cut herself short as she came to the door.

"We've come a great way to speak with you Mr. Lang, Miss Van Dyne," T'Challa said.

"We brought cronuts," Strange said holding a bag with his trademark stern look. At least, that was the impression Scott always got from him.

A few minutes later the five of them were seated around Scott's kitchen table. Scott still had half a pot of coffee left over, which Carol was happy to reheat with a swirl of her fingers.

"That sort of work is still… frowned upon," Hope lowered her head.

"It is," Strange said slowly. "But the world is changing. Waiting on the world to decide when people like us can and can't save them? I'm not sure that's a position that the world can keep for much longer."

"We understand that this would be hard for you Mr. Lang," T'Challa eyed the liquid in his mug.

"Believe me your majesty," Scott passed him some milk. "I really would love to help, but I feel like I have a responsibility to my family to stay out of jail. Speaking of which, this hero stuff seems a bit… below your level?"

"We have our duties," Strange nodded. "The Avengers protected the world, and that goal aligns with mine as a Master of the Mystic Arts."

T'Challa crossed his arms. "And I have promised to share Wakanda's gifts to the world. At risk of sounding extremely egotistical, the power of the Black Panther is one such gift."

"Me, I've been away from home too long," Carol was standing up in the doorway with her cup. "But I want to help. Apparently this whole Avengers Initiative thing is partially my fault anyway."

"So what you're saying," Hope leaned back in her chair, "is that you're planning on operating a legally gray organization, and you want us to risk getting caught by the government to help you save the world?"

"Well, yes," Stephen looked down.

Scott and Hope looked at one another and grinned. "Sounds like fun."

* * *

**The Avengers Will Return**


End file.
